acme visible recordshttp://www.readthehook.com/taxonomy/term/5976/all
enLess hazardous: Acme Visible Records gets cleanedhttp://www.readthehook.com/107266/hazardous-sites-whats-happening-acme-and-greenwood
<p>For more than 10 years, a prime commercial/light industrial site in designated-growth-area Crozet has been empty. It turns out there's a reason for that: it's polluted.</p>
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<h2>Related:</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/107511/27-years-later-greenwood-superfund-site-moves">Greenwood: EPA leaves Superfund site 27 years after fatal disaster</a></p>
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<p>Acme Visible Records, which specializes in making file cabinets and office accoutrements that are hallmarks of the pre-computer era, was once, along with next-door neighbor Morton Frozen Foods, one of the largest employers in Crozet.</p>
<p>In a 1978 full-page ad in the <em>Daily Progress</em>, Acme boasted of having more than 600 employees in Crozet&#8211; and of its environmental and pollution controls. The ad also mentioned that the plant had its own water supply and waste treatment plant "without cost to taxpayers."</p>
<p>By 1992, Acme was struggling under bankruptcy and moved part of its manufacturing elsewhere, while some manufacturing operations continued at the Crozet plant until 2001 under a new owner.</p>
<p>When the plant, located at 5327 Three Notched Road, was in operation, it routed industrial wastewater to a 1.6-acre lagoon on the southern end of the property. The <a href="http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/va/webpages/vad003124989.html">EPA lists nine contaminants</a>, including arsenic, benzene, and lead, that seeped into the soil and groundwater. The most troublesome is a solvent called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene">trichloroethene, a.k.a. TCE</a>.</p>
<p>"It's a carcinogen," says Ryan Kelly, corrective action project manager with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. He notes that TCE&#8211; the featured toxin in the 1998 John Travolta drama, <em>A Civil Action</em>&#8211; is bad news in drinking water.</p>
<p>An old realtor's sign remains out front, but until the chemicals that seeped into the soil and groundwater are cleaned up, the 62-acre property won't be on the market.</p>
<p>"The remediation system is in place," says Kelly. "It's going to take time."</p>
<p>Site remediation began in early 2011 with three methods: soil vapor extraction, a groundwater bio-remediation system, and chemical oxidation, explains Kelly.</p>
<p>"We're trying to use natural organisms to remediate," he says.</p>
<p>The property owner was the Chicago-based Wilson Jones Company. That's the firm that's said to have invented the 3-ring binder and which acquired some Acme assets. However, a corporate switch left Acme in the hands of Beam Inc., the publicly held company that distills a well-known bourbon and other liquors. Beam has cooperated with authorities and paid for the cleanup, says Kelly.</p>
<p>In June, the second phase of the cleanup began as the manufacturing plant and office areas came under scrutiny for contamination.</p>
<p>"This step is an investigation into areas unlikely to have environmental impacts," says property spokesperson Sarah Huddle. "We haven't found any additional problems."</p>
<p>More good news for the contaminated site is that remediation is likely to wrap between 2014 and 2016, so the property can be returned to productive use&#8211; something that the community, Huddle notes, is keenly seeking.</p>
<p>"I think it's a shame that building hasn't been put to use," says a former Acme Visible Records employee, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Does she have any health concerns about working at a contaminated site?</p>
<p>"Absolutely not, and I worked there for 32 years," she replies.</p>
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<div class="filefield-file"><img class="filefield-icon field-icon-application-pdf" alt="application/pdf icon" src="http://www.readthehook.com/sites/all/modules/filefield/icons/application-pdf.png" /><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/files/article-documents/greenwood_chemical_site_fact_sheet_march_2012.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=368249">greenwood_chemical_site_fact_sheet_march_2012.pdf</a></div> </div>
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